Trump accuses Ukraine of ingratitude as talks to discuss US peace plan Washington accuses Kyiv of leaking the peace plan and forces it to publicly apologize

During negotiations with Ukraine in Geneva, White House representatives accused members of the Ukrainian delegation of leaking the settlement plan negatively to the media.

During the meeting, the US side accused the Ukrainians of leaking negative details about the plan to the US press.

The Ukrainians agreed to issue a positive statement on behalf of one of their negotiators to calm the situation.

He also noted that during the negotiations, Ukraine demanded amendments to the plan proposed by the US side, and Washington expressed its readiness to do so.

Officials from Europe, the United States and Ukraine met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a draft plan presented by Washington to end the war in Ukraine after Kiev and its allies expressed concern about what they saw as major concessions to Russia and called for changes.

US President Donald Trump, who backed the 28-point plan, said on Sunday that Ukraine hadn’t expressed gratitude for US efforts in the war, prompting Ukrainian officials to emphasize their gratitude to the US president for his support.

European officials joined the US and Ukrainian delegations in the talks late in the day after drafting a revised version of the US plan for peace in Ukraine that says the proposed territorial seed needs to be discussed.

The European plan also proposes allowing Ukraine to have a larger military strength than stipulated in the US plan and to start talks on land swaps from the front line, rather than a predetermined vision of which areas should be considered Russian.

On Friday, Trump gave his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky until Thursday to approve the 28-point plan, which calls on Kyiv to cede territory, accept restrictions on its military and abandon its NATO accession ambitions.

For many Ukrainians, including soldiers fighting on the front lines, such conditions mean surrendering after nearly four years of fighting in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Trump said that his current proposal to end the war wasn’t a final offer.

Key talks between US and Ukrainian officials kicked off in Geneva this afternoon, chaired by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, amid a tense atmosphere among members of the US delegation, shortly after Trump complained in a post on Truth Social that Ukraine’s leadership had not expressed gratitude for US efforts and that Europe had continued to buy Russian oil.

Rubio interrupted the meeting to speak with reporters, saying the talks were probably the best between the United States and Ukraine since Trump returned to power.

He said the changes would be made to the plan to work toward a solution that Ukraine and the United States could support.

There has been considerable confusion since the announcement of the plan regarding who was involved in drafting it, and European allies have told Ukraine that they haven’t been consulted.

During the meeting of officials in Geneva, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “the goal was to formulate an acceptable plan for Ukraine, which could be used in negotiations with Russia… That would likely take time”.

“At the moment, I’m not yet convinced that we will reach the solution that President Trump wants in the next few days,” he said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg.

Before heading to Geneva, Rubio said in a post on X that Washington had drawn up the plan, following statements from some senators questioning it.

The draft plan contains many of Russia’s main demands, and offers Ukraine only vague assurances of strong security guarantees amid a critical moment in the country’s history.

Western and Ukrainian officials said Russia had made gains on some fronts, albeit at a slow pace, but noted that those gains had come at a very high human cost.

Russian forces have partially taken control of the transport hub in Pokrovsk, while Ukrainian commanders say they don’t have enough soldiers to stop the limited and sustained incursions.

Ukraine’s electricity and gas facilities have been hit by a series of drone and missile attacks, depriving millions of citizens of water, heating and electricity for hours a day.

Zelensky himself is facing internal pressure after a major corruption scandal involving ministers and people close to him was revealed.

Kyiv has received a morale boost over the past few weeks after the United States tightened sanctions on Russia’s oil sector, the main source of funding for the war, while its drone and long-range missile attacks have inflicted significant damage on Russia’s energy sector.

But the draft peace plan appears to be restoring diplomatic advantage to Moscow. Ukraine relies heavily on US intelligence and weapons to continue its war against Russia.